Wisconsin Democratic gubernatorial candidate Francesca Hong sidestepped questions on her past calls to cancel Thanksgiving, saying, “views can evolve.”“I’m a chef, and one of the first meals that I made for the community when I was 16 was a Thanksgiving meal,” Hong said on CNN’s The Source with Kaitlan Collins on Monday. “I always think my hospitality background in owning a restaurant for seven, eight years, that bringing folks around the table, to share conversation and build community is always a good thing.”
Hong’s comments came after host Kaitlan Collins asked her about a 2020 tweet in which she wrote, “cancel Thanksgiving. Should have done this in 1621. If it takes a worldwide pandemic for us to realize we should stop celebrating colonialism and the original superspreader event that killed indigenous folx and women, so be it.”
While pointing to her career in hospitality and her experience bringing people together over food, Hong also acknowledged that the holiday remains a difficult one for some Americans, particularly Indigenous communities and others who may associate Thanksgiving with historical injustices.
Collins: Do you still believe that Thanksgiving should be canceled?Hong: I'm a chef, and one of the first meals that I made was for the community when I was 16 was a Thanksgiving meal. But Thanksgiving is also a time that's incredibly painful for many people in our communities.… pic.twitter.com/Kd5kBZMxZS— Acyn (@Acyn) August 4, 2026
